springs

[goaty]

Hi all,

Sorry to bring it up again but after hours of searching i am still unsure.

I have owned my D90 van back for just over a year now and when i bought it, it had a 2 inch lift kit already fitted. At the time it was quite high compared to all my frineds non lifted ones.

Now though mine seems to be the lowest of all of them, one has just put a set of new 2 inch springs on and its monsterous how high it is. My other mate has fitted disco 1 rear springs on the front and the back of his D90 and it has at least and inch more clearance than mine, although you can see they are alot softer as it leans about more and you can see where the wiehgt is sitting in the back of it too.

Now i am looking to sort mine out as i think my kits must be old and tired and has just sagged alot and is well past it. What should i look for?? I think 3 inch may be a little much really as i dont really use it on the road but i dont want to spend loads changing other bits on it to suit the 3 inch list only for pay and play days and some laning. Currently it has everything needed for a 2 inch and it works well, but i cant understand why my friends is so high on the disco springs??

Also, which springs would suit mine best? heavdy duty 2 inch springs or the offraod/extended 2 inch springs??

I am looking at +4inch shocks at the mo to go with them.

I should mention that i run 265/75/16 insa turbo's and i do have a winch up front.

please somebody help or offer advice please.

cheers

[stuntman]

It may be that you've lost height at the front as your springs may not have been rated ffor a winch at the front, how about just getting some spring spacers for the front and back, that should give you a cheap lift?

[goaty]

Spacers are definetly not the choice i would make, really dont like them. I have a few hundred pounds to spend at the mo but i dont have to get it all done roght away, i can leave it off the road for a bit if need be, just not sure what would be the best move to make.

cheers for the reply

[goaty]

can anyone advise on which springs would work best?? I am going for the LLama kit to go with them.

hope someone can help.

cheers

[SteveG]

can anyone advise on which springs would work best?? I am going for the LLama kit to go with them.

hope someone can help.

cheers

What lift height do you want and what's your budget? What percentage of driving is off-road/on-road. It looks like from 1st post that hardly any is on-road.

What shocks are you going with for the Gwyn Lewis Challenge kit? If buying from it Llama 4x4, I assume Rough Country.

Are you buying the rear Gwyn Lewis Challenge spring retainers with the hook?

What else do you have fitted, cranked rear arms etc?

Can you measure your existing height between the top and bottom spring mounts. IIRC on a 90 std height is 260mm.

Cheers

Steve

[goaty]

Hey, thanks for the reply.

Yes i am going for the Llama to save soem money as i not sure how long the kit is needed for and i am not going for the hoof type retainers. I already have heavy duty clamping the spring to the chassis and qt style cones on the axle to put them back in.

I have got cranked arms on the back too and am getting both the llama shock top mounts/turrets.

Not used too much on road really, only when i have to if the run about is not useable. As for the budget i haven't got much at the mo due to holiday's etc so looking at the blue springs all about 100quid. Lift wise i want 2 inch as thats what the 90 had when i bought it but now it is tired and sits low, front spring measures at 265mm N/S 270mm O/S so really have past it.

I have seen you get either heavy duty or offroad springs, guess offroad ones are softer but not sure how suitable. I have a winch up front plus all the guards and gear in the back.

My friend is running disco 1 rear springs all round and it sits real high, can 2 in disco springs be used??

sorry for the long bit there, cheers.

What lift height do you want and what's your budget? What percentage of driving is off-road/on-road. It looks like from 1st post that hardly any is on-road.

What shocks are you going with for the Gwyn Lewis Challenge kit? If buying from it Llama 4x4, I assume Rough Country.

Are you buying the rear Gwyn Lewis Challenge spring retainers with the hook?

What else do you have fitted, cranked rear arms etc?

Can you measure your existing height between the top and bottom spring mounts. IIRC on a 90 std height is 260mm.

Cheers

Steve

[Mo Murphy]

When I change my suspension I'll be going down the OME set up road. It costs more but having dallied with other manufacturer's stuff, I think it'll be worth saving a bit longer for.

Mo

[SteveG]

Reason I asked budget was because if it wasn't a problem then Devon 4x4's +2" competition spring that they have made by OME are really good. I'd guess they are around the 190-200lb mark and give a good ride off-road and supple on-road, but firm enough not to upset handling.

I wouldn't go for any spring that is going to give you greater lift than 2" as you most likely get into propshaft problems with vibrations and premature UJ wear.

The bearmach and britpart HD springs give a good ride, but they also restrict upward travel, so you'll lose a margin of off-road articulation. I have no personal experience of Bearmach blue springs or the standard versions of both Bearmach and Britpart so can't comment on those.

Another common option is to use red/white RR police spec springs for mainly off-road use. With a winch up front they'll give you a ~2" up front and about 1.5" in rear. You can easily bring rear up to 2" using an RR rubber isolator, about 5 pounds each IIRC. The red/whites are a nice long spring with good poundage. Only downside is that with a rating of ~170lbs they won't take a heavy load. So if you are carrying lots of gear in the back you'll likely find it hitting the bump stops off road.

The other budget option is Terrafirma. Don't know what they are like but I know they have springs in both medium and heavy duty applications. You could try there medium duty springs all round.

The other option is using LR springs. Buying OEM they cost about 25-27 each, buying allmakes version about 15-20 a spring.

The disco rears your mate has are probably. This is a fairly heavy duty spring.

NTC5527 Disco V8 '90-'93 Rear 16.06 210 9.2 red/pink

If you are up to experimenting you could try..

NTC3285 RR '87-'91 Rear left 17.13 180 10.21 green/pink

NRC8113 RR '87-'91 Rear right 16.47 180 8.75 pink/purple

I suspect if you used NRC8113 on front and NTC3285 on rear it would sit level and lift would be about 1.5". Or you could fit NTC3285's all round and pack the rear with an RR isolator on each side to level it up and you should get about a 2" lift.

Personally I don't see the need to put any more lift on than you need, so for my 33" 255/85 BFG MT's I use LR springs to give me a 1" lift all round. This is coupled with the Gwyn Lewis shock mounts and OME N73 shocks.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Steve

[goaty]

well thanks for all the info, i am now going to try some LR springs to see how it works out, dont want to buy the 100quid springs you see as i just dont like them at all, seems to be one size fits all with them, not to keen on that.

The isolators seem like a good idea so i am going to play about with spacers too me thinks.

I just got the Llamha kit on its way so just finding a nice set of springs to go with it.

Will let you knwo how i get on.

cheers again